Antec Sonata II case size?

[Scrimmy]

I'm considering picking up a Sonata II case from Antec as part of their B stock sale ($70 including shipping, sounds like a scratch and dent kind of deal), and I was curious about the general size of the case. I'm just about to build a new computer and this seems like a good deal, but I've seen people allude to the chance of a tight fit for some of the bigger video cards.

To start with, I'm mostly going for a good bang-for-the-buck card, but sometime next year may make the jump to something a bit higher end, so I was curious what people's thoughts were about this, and about the case in general.

 

[Harvey]

ASCII and you shall RECEIVII.

Dimensions:

42,5cm (H) x 46.3cm (D) x 20.6 cm (W)

16.7" (H) x 18.2" (D) x 8.1" (W)

I've built several machines for friends with this case, and I recently bought one for my own next build. It's a beautifully engineered case with front access snap-in 5.25" bays, side access snap-in 3.5" bays and an independent, extensible duct to vent the CPU heat out of the case.

There were reports of some problems with early versions of the power supply, but I believe they have been addressed. At least, the systems I've built haven't had any problems.

 

[Zepper]

Hello Scrimmy and welcome to the AT forums.

It's on the smaller side of the mid-Tower category and they poot the front fan mount in a weird location - on the rear of the HDD cage where it can interfere with stuff on the mobo. Here is a link to the easy to find product page: http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15139 :roll: They have Yate Loon fans that are only 20mm thick which might help out in that weird location or it might fit in behind the bezel instead of that stupid location.

I'd buy a B Stock SLK3000-B (or maybe a p160 - these are great cases but I could never deal with the looks of them) instead and perhaps one of the PSUs in my FS/T thread linked in my sig, below - wink, wink - nudge, nudge...

Antec's shipping rates sometimes make their deals not all that good, so be sure to check the bottom line. They may also charge sales tax on top of it all...

.bh.

 

[Scrimmy]

Excellent. Thanks for the help and the welcome. I was actually registered here long ago, but grad school and (the complete absence of a) life kept me away from gaming much too long. No idea what my old info was and I don't use the email anymore.

Slowly getting back up to speed but I still don't feel like I have much of a foundation now. Checked out the SLK3000-B case and it definitely looks like a great deal. May have to take you up on the PSU as well if I do. Think it's got enough juice to handle something like an 8800GTX or whatever's mid-high end in another 6 months to a year, in case I decide to pay way more money for a video card than I really should?

I'll be doing some mild overclocking, probably an Intel e2160 processor with a Gigabyte P31-DS3L motherboard. I'm waiting until next month to buy a videocard with all the new products being announced, but I'm on the fence about buying that CPU/mobo now while they're still available, or waiting to see how the new Intel stuff I've read about being announced next month is going to affect current CPU pricing. So many options ...

 

[Zepper]

The SU-380 is not really dual or split rail and can supply 28 Amps total on the 12V rail - maybe a bit more in a peak situation. I don't think I'd recommend it for the 8800GTX, but the 8800GTS would do OK with it. It has only one of the 6-pin connectors. There is a good review of it linked in my listing. Plus there are fans (3000-B comes with only the rear fan) and other things you might need in my listing.

.bh.